


Sabers Out

by crossingwinter, monsterleadmehome



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: (Reylo. Reylo's the good cause.), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, In which we murder the Skywalker twins' characterization but it's for a good cause lol, Knives Out fusion, Vomiting, unplanned marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23654287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crossingwinter/pseuds/crossingwinter, https://archiveofourown.org/users/monsterleadmehome/pseuds/monsterleadmehome
Summary: The circumstances surrounding the death of crime novelist Anakin Skywalker are mysterious, but there's one thing that renowned Detective Armitage Hux knows for sure -- everyone in the wildly dysfunctional Skywalker family is a suspect. Now, Hux must sift through a web of lies and red herrings to uncover the truth.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 139
Kudos: 324





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! We've been working on this one since November when we saw _Knives Out_ and turned to each other halfway through the movie and went "....Reylo....."
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Thanks to Jeeno for looking this one over <3
> 
> Thanks also to the wonderful k_puff for turning this fic into [a podfic](https://twitter.com/crossing_winter/status/1275557244667641862)!!

It was a day like any other. R2-D2 rolled his way through the house, a tray balanced in front of him. The sun was shining, the sound of the lake drifted in through the opened windows. 

He rolled his way into the bedroom. Master Anakin was, at this point in his long life, a bit lazy in the mornings. Where once he would have been up and doing his calisthenics before dawn, increasingly R2 found him half asleep, a notebook in his hand, recording whatever ideas had come to him in his sleep for his next installment.

But the bed in the master bedroom was empty. It looked completely untouched. But it made no matter. If R2 couldn’t find Master Anakin in the bedroom, chances were he had fallen asleep in the study.

So he rolled backwards back out of the master bedroom and down the hallway to the room with the heavy wooden door that had become Anakin’s sanctuary, the space where he wrote every single one of his stories.

R2 pushed open the door.

The tray slid from its balance as R2 beeped out a loud  _ woaahhhh!  _ in shock.

His master, his friend from so many battles during and before the Clone Wars, was lying on the divan, a cauterized slice on his throat, very clearly dead.

-

Rey woke up in a cold sweat, chest heaving as she gulped in air. Nightmares had always been common for her, but ever since the death of her patient, Anakin Skywalker, almost a week ago, they had gotten worse. She kept seeing the events of that night over and over in her head.

She looked over at the chrono on her nightstand—soon it would be time to get up and fix breakfast for Maz. And Finn, if he hadn’t already left for work. They were a hodgepodge little family from different planets with different traumas, but they had come to Naboo as a unit, in search of a better life.

The Skywalker family had done that for Rey. She made more money working as Anakin’s nurse than she could have anywhere else, and she came to think of him as a friend, a mentor, a kindred spirit.

His children were another story, but they weren’t too bad most of the time. Out of everyone, she probably liked Han, Leia’s husband, best. Luke waffled between whiny and crotchety most days, and Leia was mostly intimidating. 

She ambled down the stairs to find Maz fast asleep in front of the glow from the holo. She must’ve dozed off in her chair again.

Rey was about to turn the kettle on for tea when her datapad beeped, signaling a message from Luke. 

_ Come to the house, now. _

-

Han heard a speeder pull up and he got up out of his chair. Leia was still upstairs, Luke was out in the gardens meditating, and Ben was in the study that had once been Padmé’s, holo-ing with Coruscant. 

Han frequently felt like a fish out of water when he was squarely in Leia’s world, but he had to confess—the place was eerie without Anakin Skywalker nearby. The man had always given Han the heebie-jeebies. Han always had had the feeling that Anakin could read his mind. And yeah, sure, maybe he could because he  _ claimed _ that he was strong in the Force, but the Force was just a bunch of mumbo jumbo. It hadn’t saved him from whoever it was who’d—

“Heya, kid,” he said as he came out the front door to the lakeside manor house. Rey was getting off the speeder. The kid was small, nervous, and like one of the family. She’d looked after Anakin as his kidneys and liver needed extra tending to, as his body began to fail him. The girl—because she was little more than a girl; clever, but still very young—looked like she had barely slept in a week. There were dark circles under her eyes and it looked like she’d lost weight. “Good to see you,” he said. He’d never been the type to hug, but she looked like she needed a hug.  _ She was close to Anakin,  _ he told himself. He’d never really understood it. Anakin’s tempestuous temper had only gotten worse after Padmé had died, but Rey had always gotten along with him well. 

“Do you have any idea what they want?” she asked. Her voice sounded dry. 

“No,” he said. “The inspectors just came through and said they wanted to ask a few questions before the memorial service tonight and wanted you to come back through since you were here for his birthday party.”

Rey jerked a nod, the little buns she had her hair tied in bouncing a little in the air. 

“It’ll be okay,” Han told her, patting her shoulder—which was about as much affection as he could muster at the moment. Then, because he was sure that it was something that would make her a little less tense, he said, “We’ll look after you, don’t worry. Won’t leave you high and dry, after everything you’ve done.”

Rey’s smile was tighter than he’d ever seen it as she looked at him. “Thanks Han,” she said quietly and they went into the manor together.

-

Leia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as she went through the spare pieces of flimsi and other debris that littered her father’s desk. His organizational skills had really taken a dive after her mother died. This was a kriffing mess.

After several successful terms as a senator in the Republic, she had followed in her father’s footsteps and built something from the ground up. Inspired by Anakin’s injury that caused him to retire from the Jedi life, she built the largest prosthetic company in the Core. They manufactured the highest quality synthskin and provided limbs for all kinds of beings.

He was proud of her, she knew. They had their own special relationship, trading handwritten notes that required the sharpest mind to decipher. Her fingers traced the edge of what looked to be random notes for his next novel.

The inspectors had said suicide, but she never believed her father capable of such a thing. It still hurt and she blinked back tears that threatened to well up. Hearing voices drift up the long corridor of the vast lake house, she exited the room to find the source.

“Leia,” Rey greeted.

Han stood off to the side, looking sheepish and out of place. He had always been uncomfortable in the opulence of her world, but she had picked him, despite the odds. He was nothing more than a smuggler and a rogue when they met, but she’d like to think she reformed him in some ways. In others, not as much.

“You poor thing,” Leia crooned, wrapping the girl up in a tight hug. Rey reminded her in a lot of ways of Han when he was younger: eager, hungry, rough around the edges. She’d come to think of her like a daughter in the time she worked for Anakin.

“What is this about?” Rey’s eyes were wide with concern.

“They just have some more questions for us. I’m sure it’s standard protocol. In fact,” she glanced between them. “Why don’t I go in first?”

-

“You’ve already asked me all this,” Leia Skywalker said firmly, her steely eyes narrowed as she glared at Mitaka.

“Yes, I know Mrs.—”

“Ms. I did not take my husband’s last name,” Leia said.

“Ms. Skywalker,” he corrected himself. “But the case is not formally closed yet.”

“I thought it had been ruled a suicide,” Leia replied. “His lightsaber was right there.”

Behind him, he heard Inspector Hux shift in the shadows. 

“Just a few more questions, Ms. Skywalker.” He looked down at his notebook again. “When did you arrive at the party?”

“I arrived in the mid-afternoon to make sure the caterers were doing everything in a way my mother would have wanted,” she said at once. “Han came later.”

“And your son?”

Leia paused. “Ben arrived just before the party started. He had a drink with Luke and got into an argument.”

“And when did Ben leave?”

“About an hour later. He got into a fight with my dad in his study and stormed out, probably back to Theed.”

Behind him, he heard Hux shift in his seat again. 

“Can you tell me how your father was doing that night? Did you talk to him much?”

“He seemed in fine spirits. It was his birthday,” she said. “He hadn’t had enough to drink yet to start getting upset about his mother. Or my mother. And besides—Rey was there.”

“Can you describe the relationship that your father had with Rey?” Mitaka asked.

Leia made a face as though outraged. “My father was devoted to my mother,” she snapped. “He had no interest in her  _ that  _ way.”

“I didn’t mean to imply it,” Mitaka said quickly. “Rather—what role does she play in the family?”

“She’s—was—his nurse. Nice girl, from Jaguada. We employed her privately to look after him. Especially after my mother died, his health started failing him. Used to say he was dying of a broken heart.” She paused, looking distant for a moment, before continuing briskly, “Anyway, Rey comes—came—part time to help him with his medical needs. I think they played some sabacc too. She kept him company. I couldn’t always be here with my business, and Ben’s so frequently in Coruscant and Han’s… well… Han.”

“So he was in decent spirits because Rey was present?”

“As far as I could tell. It was his birthday, he might have been in decent spirits anyway.”

“Despite his fight with your son?”

Leia swallowed. “I wouldn’t read anything into that,” she said. “He and Ben—they both have tempers and a flair for the dramatic. Ben holds a grudge against me and Han, but he never really did with dad. They understood one another.”

“And yet Ben wasn’t at Anakin’s funeral,” came Hux’s voice. “And he’s not here today.”

Leia cocked her head and raised her eyebrow. “Who is this?” she asked, her eyes over Mitaka’s shoulder and Mitaka let out a sigh. “What is he doing here?”

-

Armitage Hux was an ambitious man. After graduating top of his class, he entered the Republic Army, hoping to rise to the top and become a general someday, but there just wasn’t as much excitement in the military as he had hoped. He had hoped to boss people around, to instill a sense of fear, and perhaps give rousing speeches.

However, the galaxy was a relatively peaceful place. Some called it balance in the Force—not that Hux believed in any of that bantha shit.

He turned to the private sector, and became an investigator. People paid him handsomely to uncover secrets, and he was damn good at it, which only made him raise his rates, which only made people want his services even more. It leant itself very well to his reputation and his bank account. So when an obscene amount of credits showed up in his account with a note to look into Anakin Skywalker’s apparent suicide, he couldn’t resist.

He opened his mouth to reply to Leia’s question, but Mitaka beat him to the punch. “Mr. Hux isn’t here in any formal capacity, he’s more of a consultant. You can ignore him.”

“Hux—as in Armitage Hux?” She leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “I read a profile of you in the  _ Coruscant Times _ . You’ve solved quite a number of cases, haven’t you?”

Hux shrugged, feigning humility. He possessed none.

Mitaka pressed on. “So you said you went to bed around midnight?”

“Yes, that’s right. I kissed my father goodnight. He went up to his room with Rey, where presumably she gave him his medicine before bed. But I’m also a terribly light sleeper—I think it comes from being a mother—so when my brother went up the stairs about fifteen minutes later, it woke me up.”

“Your brother is Luke, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And he runs your father’s publishing company?”

Leia rolled her eyes. “It’s not like he does much work. Dad writes the novels and gives them to Luke and he prints them. He practically handed him the company when he got tired of doing it himself.” 

“So you and your brother don’t get along well?” Mitaka seemed uneasy. Behind him, Hux cleared his throat. “Um—where was he when you went to bed?”

“We get along as well as any twin siblings, I suppose.” Leia sighed and recrossed her legs. “He was out on the veranda, probably smoking something if I know my brother. He is very… nature oriented.”

Hux then spoke. “I think we had better talk to Luke then, shouldn’t we?”

Mitaka nodded.

-

“And what were you and your father talking about when he pulled you aside?” Officer Mitaka asked him.

_ Dad, do you know how much money we could make if we just sold the Holo rights? Think of what Mom would want. You—know she’d want it. _

His dad’s eyes had flickered at the mention of his mother, the way that Luke had known they would. His dad would do anything for his mother, and Luke tried to invoke her only when he really wanted something.  _ Just let me have this, Dad. _

_ Yes, I know what direction you want to take the company in,  _ Anakin had said.  _ And I think it’s time that we stop pretending our visions align. _

He’d turned and shuffled away, leaning heavily on his cane.  _ Dad?  _ Luke had called after him.  _ Dad what do you—what? _

“We talked about the company,” Luke said. “Just talking shop, you know?”

“According to some testimony, it looked like you were angry with your father following the conversation. I thought he kept his hands out of the business.”

“Angry? No. No, we didn’t fight. He fought with Ben, and then Ben stormed out. Dad and I just had a conversation.”  _ Yeah, pivot to Ben. Blame everything on Ben.  _ Luke knows he didn’t kill his own dad. And he can’t fathom that Leia would have either. Leia had never even learned how to wield a lightsaber, probably didn’t know how to turn one on. But Ben?

“Do you have any sense of what Ben Solo might have argued about with Anakin?”

“What wouldn’t he have fought with dad about?” Luke asked dryly. “Ben’ll fight anyone just because he can. He’s an asshole.”

“So am I to take it,” the man in the back with the red hair asked, leaning forward, “That you and your nephew don’t get along?”

“No one gets along with Ben—either personally or professionally. It’s hardly an anomaly to admit to.”

“Your sister said you came upstairs about fifteen minutes after she did—is that correct?”

It was all Luke could do not to roll his eyes. Of course Leia would fucking complain about going upstairs after her. If she cared about not being woken up by the stairs so much, she shouldn’t kriffing go to bed first. “Must have been something like that,” he said. “I was having a smoke out front before going to bed.”

“And did you see anyone else before you left?” 

“I passed Rey on the stairs down,” he said. “She was anxious about getting home so late. Had a droid at home she needed to make sure wasn’t overpowered. It was around midnight.”

“Thank you,” Mitaka said.

“That all?” Luke asked, getting to his feet.

“We’ll let you know,” said the red-haired man. And Luke left the sitting room.

-

Rey paced on the veranda. The inspectors sure were being thorough in their questioning of everyone. She saw Leia go to the kitchen and request R2 start some caf. She watched as Luke stubbed out whatever he had been using to “meditate” and go inside, leaning heavily on his cane. Then Han was called. He patted her shoulder on his way in.

Where was Ben?

Of everyone who would likely be questioned, Rey knew Ben Solo would probably have the best information for the investigators. He had been closest to Anakin, after all—even closer than she was with him. Sure, they fought all the time, but Rey knew that was because they were the most alike.

All this she learned from observation, of course. Ben was always an asshole to everyone else, especially those he considered “the help.” Still, there was something intriguing about the senator, and when he hadn’t been fighting with his grandfather just because he could, Anakin had always had a fond look on his face when he spoke of his only grandson.

She knew he was Force-sensitive, if only because Anakin had let it slip. He had never once used his abilities in front of her, but she had felt something on occasion when passing him in the hall. Just a brushing on the edge of her consciousness. A tug somewhere from deep inside that pulled her towards him.

This she knew, because she also had the Force. 

Something had always been off about Rey. Growing up as a scavenger on Jakku, she had felt it. She suspected it’s what led Maz to her. But it wasn’t until meeting Anakin that he had shown her how to use it. And whenever Ben Solo visited Varykino, her Force always seemed to fizzle and tingle and sparkle whenever he probed her. She didn’t like it. She didn’t want him taking any notice of her. Because he was an asshole.

She jumped, startled, when someone joined her on the veranda, interrupting her thoughts. “Oh, hi, Inspector.”

The red-haired man attempted a smile. “Please call me Hux.”

“Am I next?”

He leaned back against the balcony. “I suppose, but I wanted to speak with you off the record first. I hear you have an interesting personality... quirk.”

Rey froze. It was an impairment, if anything. One that hindered her often back in her scavenger days. “Yes…” she trailed off, wanting to see if he really knew.

“Is it true that you vomit if you tell a lie?”

She took a seat in one of the chairs that was nearby and nodded slowly. “Even the thought of being less than truthful makes me sick to my stomach.”

“Fascinating.” Hux scratched his chin. “Rey, do you think anyone in the Skywalker family is capable of commiting murder?”

Her eyes widened. “No.” Suddenly, the bile rose up so violently that she lurched for the nearest potted plant and expelled the contents of her stomach into it.

“Excellent,” Hux intoned, his lips curling into a smile she did not like at all.

_ Fuck, _ Rey thought.

-

They started as all investigations must with what was seen, and luckily for Hux, Varykino was old, and the abode of a former senator, which meant that there were—thank the stars—security cameras. He shouldn’t really be surprised that Mitaka and his team hadn’t even gone through the recordings already. Mitaka seemed incompetent. Whoever it was who had sent him that anonymous tip-off that this was a case he should take, they had known what they were talking about. 

“It is an old setup,” the protocol droid told them as he led them into the surveillance room. “It was installed before the twins were born. The machine can be rather finicky. Mistress Padmé used to complain about it.”

“Was she frequently reviewing security holos?” Hux asked idly. This seemed quirky of—by all accounts—the graceful and thoughtful matriarch of the family. 

“Oh, yes sir. There’ve been several attempts on Master Anakin’s life in the past—especially when some got a little too heated at the content of his books. She would always talk about how happy she was to have eyes on the ground.”

“I should think that someone who was Force sensitive would be able to sense when he was under attack,” Hux said.

Beside him, the little nurse shifted, even as C-3PO replied, “Oh, yes, sir. But his medical treatment in the past fifteen years required some ysalamiri components, which dulled his Force sensitivity.”

“I didn’t know that,” Hux said, glancing at Rey.

“It was an experimental treatment,” Rey said. “Prescribed by one of the family doctors. It helped with his nightmares and blood pressure.”

“I see,” Hux said, not really caring. “Can you pull up the recording for the night of the party?” And C-3PO does. “We can move it a little faster,” he said when the holo began to play at normal speed. The camera had been facing the gates to the estate, and every now and then a transport pulled through it to come and celebrate the life and achievements of Anakin Skywalker.

“Oh, I’m afraid I don’t—” C-3PO began but Rey was already stepping forward and crouching down in front of the holoplayer. 

“We had these at home,” she said. “I can do it. They’re a bit—” And the screen went completely blank. “Damn it,” she said. “The wiring must be old.”

“Will the recording have survived?” Hux asked but Rey was already looking apologetic as she leaned back on her heels. He could see smoke emitting from the computer and he knew without having to ask that the recording was gone.

Hux sighed.

Nothing could ever be kriffing easy, could it? “The thrill of the chase,” he lied, proud of himself for resisting rolling his eyes, even if he couldn’t help sneering a bit. “Come. I suppose this means we’re going to investigate on foot.”

-

“Well, I’m clearly not going to make the next committee meeting as I told you I’m dealing with a family emergency!” His family he could handle, but there was something off about this whole tragic situation—not to mention the way he felt every time he sensed Rey’s Force signature nearby. It was like they were on the precipice of  _ something _ , but he couldn’t decipher what.

“I understand, Senator—but  _ you _ understand you’ll be up for re-election next year and if the constituents think you are unavailable, they might be more inclined to vote for your opposition.”

Ben let out a feral growl as he disconnected from the holo. At the same time, the random items around the room that had been floating crashed to the ground. A soft beeping made him turn around to see R2D2 in the doorway.

“Sorry, Artoo. I’ll clean it up.”

The droid made several sad whirring and beeping sounds.

“I know. I miss him, too.”

Artoo rolled away forlornly, and Ben started to pick up the mess he’d made. He had kept his Force powers under wraps for most of his life, under his parents’ advisement, but once he’d hit puberty and couldn’t contain it—they didn’t really know what to do with him. Luke had started Jedi training, but left when he found the rules too rigid for his preferred way of living. 

So they shipped him off to live with his grandparents for a bit. Anakin had been patient with him, and they developed a deep bond. Ben had learned how to harness and control his abilities. His grandfather even showed him how to tap into the dark side without letting it overtake him. It was what helped him in his blackest moments, knowing the well was there without having to drink too deeply from it.

Still, they were Skywalkers. So they naturally fought and yelled—didn’t all families? But he would never have hurt his grandfather. And he knew that he didn’t kill himself, either. Ben clenched his fist, resolving to figure out exactly what happened.

“Ben?”

He turned to see his mother standing there, arms crossed and one eyebrow cocked in that questioning way he hated. He could never measure up to her success, no matter how many bills he helped pass. She was a beloved figure who had not only been a senator herself, but now ran one of the most successful companies in the Core.

“Yes, mother?”

“It’s your turn to talk to the inspectors. Try not to be so… yourself.”

He sighed. “Noted.” 

-

Solo was already seated when Hux and Mitaka came into the room. He was wearing black though Hux knew it wasn’t a sign of mourning. How many photos of him and his grandfather were there, both of them in black like a pair of kriffing artists, burdened by their own ennui?

“Please forgive us,” Mitaka said, taking his seat across from Senator Solo. “We were investigating the grounds.”

Investigating—as if they’d been able to find anything. He supposed the girl  _ was _ a nurse, and so wouldn’t think to avoid stepping in mud—much less mud that might contain the footprints of the perpetrator—but she had really made such a mess of those tracks. By the time she was done with her back-and-forth, back-and-forth she’d made it impossible to find out how many people might have passed through from the lakefront trail.  _ Why didn't they just purchase a medidroid and be done with it? It’s not like the damned family didn’t have an almost obsessive love of droids. _

“I’m sure it was fruitful,” replied the senator, and Hux narrowed his eyes. Was he being mocked? “You know, finding all the evidence of a murder you haven’t been able to  _ prove _ was actually a murder that took place three days ago. Nice and fresh.”

“You argued with your grandfather the night of his death,” Mitaka said. “What about?”

“The weather,” replied Solo, his tone clipped. “Or maybe it was that he was wearing my sweater. Or that his last book was a little too dark and gloomy. We always kriffing argued.”

“Yes, but this was one where you raged out of the house and left the party early,” Mitaka pressed on.

“When don’t I rage out of the party and leave early? Have you spoken to my parents? I’ve been my mother’s manners nightmare for the past thirty years. My parents make me want to kill my entire family—that doesn’t mean I actually  _ do  _ it though.”

“What did you argue with your grandfather about?” Hux asked and the senator’s eyes flicked to him and he saw boiling hatred there. Yes, that seemed about right. 

“His treatments,” Solo replied at last. “They were affecting his cognitive functioning and I was worried that it’d deteriorate his mind in his sunset years. He said he wouldn’t dream of changing the treatments. And yeah—we fought about it.”

-

Rey flitted about nervously in the hall. Once they were done with Ben, the investigators wanted to speak with her again. It took all of her concentration to get through a chain of events without lying—but without exposing the whole truth, either.

There were only two people who really knew what happened that night—and one of them was dead.

_ Anakin pulled out the sabacc deck as Rey rolled her eyes. “Humor an old man on his birthday?” _

_ “You need your medicine and sleep,” she chided.  _

_ “Just one round.” _

_ Rey huffed and sat down. “Fine, but medicine first.”  _

_ She had done this a thousand times and had it down to a fine art. Take the vials out, administer to patient, rinse, repeat. The medicines were different enough that she noticed the weight in her hands and didn’t even have to look at the labels anymore. But as she sat them back down on the table, Rey’s eyes widened and her pulse raced. “Shit, shit, shit.” _

_ Anakin raised an eyebrow at her. “What?” _

_ “I switched the vials,” she breathed in raspy horror. She explained to him in quick succession what exactly would happen to his body if they didn’t fix this and reached for the comm. _

_ Anakin stopped her with his hand on hers. “Here’s what we’re going to do—” _

Rey snapped out of her memory as the door squeaked open and Ben pushed through. He bumped her shoulder with his arm on his way past and she felt a searing thread of anger course through her body that didn’t feel like hers. Odd.

He turned around and gave her a look she couldn’t quite parse. Sure, he was an asshole, but the intensity of his gaze always threw her for a loop. She felt a heat low in her belly. She didn’t have time to ruminate on it further as Hux popped his head out of the room.

“Oh good, Rey. The person I was looking for.”

-

The nurse was nervous. She sat like a bird tensed for flight, her shoulders bunched in, her hands pressed to her knees as though trying to find something to grip to keep them from trembling. 

He wondered if she was a naturally nervous person or if she was hiding something.

Except no—no she couldn’t be hiding something. That would cause her to regurgitate under stress and then the jig would be up.

Rey was the only person on this case he could trust to be one hundred percent truthful. Even if she had mucked up the footprints around the lake when they’d gone investigating. He should have warned her though. She was a nurse, not an investigator. 

“Have you ever been to a will reading?” he asked her.

“No,” she said slowly.

“Well,” he said smiling down at her. “I’d prepare yourself for something approaching mind-numbing. I’d tell you to bring a book but I suppose that would be in poor taste.”

“Am I going to the will reading?” Rey asked slowly. “I shouldn’t. It wouldn’t be appropriate. I’m not family.”

“As my guest,” Hux said with another smile that he hoped would soothe her nerves. It seemed to do quite the opposite. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. He’d never been told he had a particularly warm smile. “And of course, to help me gauge the family’s reactions to the will. You know them better than I do and may be able to help me identify strife between them should something not go to plan.”

Rey frowned. “I—”

But he cut her off. “My dear, it’s time. Shall we.” And he extended a hand towards the door of the study the Skywalkers were—kindly—letting him use for the investigation.

Rey got to her feet and he led her into the sitting room.

Whatever it was the gathered family had been discussing while he and Rey had been briefly talking seems to have seismically raised tensions. Hux noted Senator Solo’s purple face, the almost manic twinkle to Luke Skywalker’s eyes, Leia Skywalker’s arms crossed over her chest, and Han Solo staring out the window as though wishing desperately he weren’t in the room.

The solicitor was already there, unpacking his datapad and looking determined to ignore everything in the room, including his own discomfort and Hux leaned against the door frame. There was no reason to impose further on the room.

-

Technically Luke was the first born—even if it was only by a matter of minutes. He was also the only boy. Now, normally this wouldn’t have meant much to him, but secretly he wondered if his father would play favorites with the inheritance. After all, Leia had been the one to leave—first for her illustrious career as a senator, then to start her insanely successful company.

Luke was the one running things on the publishing front. He should at least get full rights to the business. 

“Excuse me, Mr. Skywalker,” Hux said as he bumped his elbow on the way into the room.

Luke grunted. There was plenty of space to walk by. The ginger irritant probably did that on purpose. “Why is she here?” he asked, motioning to Rey.

Hux raised an eyebrow. “Why, is there a problem?”

“Not at all. It’s just—she was only his nurse. Nice girl, from Pasaana, I think, but—there’s probably nothing in there for her.”

Hux smirked more than a little sanctimoniously and Luke had the distinct urge to smack him. He resisted though, anger being a tool of the dark side and all that. “I asked her to accompany me to observe, nothing more.”

Luke shrugged and turned to find a seat. There was no shortage of couch space, but he specifically chose a wingback chair. For some reason, he was always trying to make himself appear taller and more intimidating in Han’s presence, which was hard to do when he needed a cane for his bad knee. Not like it mattered. Han was one of his oldest friends—in fact, he had met him before Leia did, so it was really Luke’s doing that they even got together in the first place. Still, he couldn’t help the feeling of playing second fiddle to a Solo. 

First with Han, and then with Ben. Sure, his father had said he loved everyone the same, but Luke knew Anakin loved Ben best. They were so alike, after all. If there was one person that Luke worried about upending all his plans for the future, it was Ben Solo.

He shook his head as if to free himself of the negative thoughts just as his nephew strolled into the room. Luke tried to ignore the knot in his stomach and turned his attention to the solicitor.

-

Anakin Skywalker had put Ahsoka Tano through a whole lot in her life, but this—this was the thing she was looking forward to the least. For one thing, she should never have agreed to be his personal lawyer. “Conflict of interest,” she’d told him firmly years ago, after law school and after the kids were born. 

“Listen, Snips,” Anakin had said, “I don’t trust anyone in this world as much as I trust you.” Except she was sure that that wasn’t true. He hadn’t told her about his secret affair with Padmé Naberrie (though maybe that was because she’d probably been a bit too young) and he definitely didn’t trust her more than he trusted Obi-Wan (at least… not at the time). But she’d smiled and indulged him.

And now, of course, if he hadn’t already been murdered, she’d have done the deed herself.

“You sure about this?” she’d asked Anakin a month before.

“Yes,” he had said firmly, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen such determination in his old eyes. 

“Ok,” she’d said and she’d dropped the old will—a good four hundred pages, between his and Padmé’s assets, in the trash, and had replaced it with the single page that Anakin had handed her with his liver-spotted hands.

And now it was show time.

“Thank you all for being here,” she said, looking around the room. “I know you’re all going through a lot right now.”  _ Not as much as you will be.  _ “And there is so much to process in light of what has happened.”  _ God, Anakin. You owe me so much. _

She glanced around the room. She knew most of the faces there. Luke and Leia, Han and Ben. There were two strangers though—though she could guess who they were. The investigator and...and  _ her _ .

_ I guess she does sort of look like Padmé. Maybe he was actually shtupping her.  _

“I should warn you all before I begin that Anakin reached out a few weeks ago wishing to make some adjustments to his will.” Yes, this was just going to suck. Everyone was leaning forward, eying her like she was prey and they were the predators. “The old will, therefore, is no longer valid in the eyes of the law, and this is what we’ve got here.”

She opened the folder and lifted up the single leaflet of paper.

“The last will and testament of Anakin Skywalker. All liquid funds, held in personal accounts and in trust, the manor house of Varykino, and control of all my publishing works and copyright I hereby leave to Rey Kanata.”

-

Ben was the last to arrive at the room and took a seat on the arm of the nearest couch, aloof as ever. He had found a tin of sweet-sand cookies in the kitchen and was stress eating them. He knew what Ahsoka was about to announce—had known since his grandfather’s party.

It’s what they argued about.

_ “These kids of mine—they’re too entitled. Too expectant. They need to be taught a lesson. Including you, Ben. You’re too much like me.” Anakin grunted as he settled down in his office chair. _

_ “What’s that supposed to mean?” _

_ “I’m cutting all of you off. Leia, she’s earned her own money—but your father mooches off of her and Luke is always up my ass…” He trailed off and Ben recognized the look in his eye, the one he got when he started to think of Padmé. He hung his head and ran his hands through his gray but surprisingly thick hair. “I don’t know how to do any of this without her.” _

_ “I know, Gramps. But you can’t just cut everyone off.” Ben didn’t really care about himself. He had enough to get by, but the rest of the family—they’d go berserk. There was more meaning to the money than just money. It was the principle of the thing. And Skywalkers relied on their principles. _

_ Anakin smirked. “Will’s already been changed. Had Ahsoka do it a couple weeks ago.” _

_ Ben stood up, practically fuming. “Then who did you leave it all to?” _

_ “The only other person who could beat me at sabacc.” _

When Ahsoka said Rey’s name everyone started talking all at once. He noticed her go white as a sheet—poor thing hadn’t seen it coming. Rey was highly intelligent, ethereally gorgeous, and damn good at her job, but she had this childlike innocence about her when it came to other people. It’s why he always struggled keeping his shields up around her. She drove him crazy, in more ways than one.

She was strong enough in the Force that Ben felt drawn to her every time she was around. It was a real problem. He shoved another cookie in his mouth as people rose from their seats, starting to yell at each other. Luke was in his father’s face and his mother was trying to stand between them. He hadn’t seen them this mad at each other since he was a boy.

When their ire turned towards him—okay it was mostly Luke and his father yelling at him about his fight with Anakin—Ben simply smirked. “Eat shit,” he deadpanned.

Hux stood and tried to corral them all into a semblance of something more calm and controlled. Ahsoka rolled her eyes. The droids were in the corner, C3PO nearly cowering down to R2D2’s height.

Ben chuckled and wiped the cookie crumbs off on his black sweater. Then he noticed Rey trying to slip out the door. As one, everyone turned to follow her.

-

She was going to be sick and for once, it wasn’t because she was trying to lie.

Anakin had left all his money to her? His house— _ this _ house? The one that had been in his wife’s family for generations? And his books? His lovely books that Rey had never read but which he’d spent so much time working on and thinking about, even the day that he’d—where he’d—

_ “How long would someone have to live?” he asked her, smiling benignly as though his heart weren’t about to fail him because of her. “How long would a murderer have to escape?” _

She avoided vomiting, but only barely, and only because she felt probably too dizzy to feel nauseous as Leia and Luke and Han were all surrounding her, demanding endlessly what she’d done to convince him, had she been sleeping with him, a Jedi mind trick—it had to have been a jedi mind trick he was getting old and wasn’t as sharp as he’d once been. That wouldn’t hold up in a court of law. She could get thrown into prison for that, sent back to Jilrua for it, have her nursing license revoked for it. Was she a con artist? Did she go around preying on rich old men and then kill them for their fortune?

For a moment she thought it was the sound of her beating heart, that thrumming noise in her head—but it wasn’t. It was a speeder pulling up behind her and Senator Solo’s dark eyes piercing through the yelling and making everything around her go silent even though his family’s mouths were all still moving.

“Get in.”

It was like the words echoed through her brain, through her body and she vaulted over the side of the speeder into the passenger seat and Senator Solo—Ben—accelerated, leaving his horrified parents and uncle gaping in their wake.


	2. Chapter 2

Ben increased speed, not even really sure where they were headed. He just knew Rey needed an out—and fast. He knew how overbearing his family could be, and right now Rey had the face of a womp rat caught in the headlights.

“Are you okay?” he asked, glancing at her for a moment. She was paler than usual, but she no longer looked like she was going to puke. Which was good, because this speeder was a lease.

“I-I’m not sure what just happened back there.”

“My grandfather used you as the ultimate pawn in his neverending mind games, that’s what happened.” Ben smirked, used to Anakin’s antics by now. He missed that old coot. “Let me just clear up one thing—you weren’t fucking him, were you?”

Ben suddenly felt constricted around his throat. He looked over to see Rey staring daggers at him as she held her hand in a loose choking gesture. It wasn’t enough to be fatal, but just enough to show she was serious. His dick twitched. What a woman.

She let him go and shifted in her seat. “Anakin was like family to me. He cared about me, taught me things.”

“Clearly,” Ben muttered, using one hand to rub his neck. He wondered why his grandfather never bothered showing  _ him _ that trick. “I didn’t mean to offend.”

He really didn’t. He was relieved. If anything, Ben now felt like the avenue to explore this strange connection between the two of them had just opened even wider. He knew about Rey’s Force sensitivity, and he knew about her strange personality quirk. Now he just needed her to trust him.

“Where are we going?” she asked nervously, looking around at the passing scenery.

“Tell me, Rey. Have you eaten anything today?”

-

If there was one thing that Rey learned in her Jakku days, it was that anxiety—fully blown, heart pounding, mind-reeling anxiety—will make it hard to eat food, no matter how hungry you are. The idea of chewing is harder than running a mile, the idea of swallowing…

Well she felt like she was going to regurgitate, and this time she didn’t think it was because of a lie.

Anakin left Varykino to her. He left the house that had belonged to the love his life, his beloved Padmé—he’d left it to her. A nothing from nowhere.

And why? Because she could beat him at sabacc? 

Leia would hate her. Luke would hate her. Han would probably not hate her, but he probably wouldn’t like her either.

And Ben—

“Eat,” he urged her. There was a full plate of deep fried gorg in front of her. Ordinarily she’d be halfway through it but right now... “It’ll be ok. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Something about the way he said it…

She believed him. 

Rey didn’t usually trust people. And Senator Ben Solo had every reason to loathe her as much as everyone who’d been yelling at her back at Varykino. But there was something in his eyes that reminded her of Anakin. 

If Anakin had just  _ told _ her that he’d been planning all this.  _ Don’t worry—you’ll be taken care of,  _ he’d said. She hadn’t thought he’d meant  _ this. _

“It’ll be ok,” Ben said again and she forced herself to take a bite, to swallow, to take another bite. Slowly, the swirling in her head abated, and before too long the plate was empty.

“So, Rey,” Ben began but Rey cut him off.

“I didn’t know he was planning it,” she said, “To leave it to me, I mean. I knew he was planning to cut you all out. He felt as though he’d ruined your lives, made it hard for you all to provide for yourselves, give you a work ethic, a sense of the importance of what you had.” She swallowed. “I didn’t ask him to leave me anything. I didn’t  _ want _ him to—”

“I know,” Ben said, his voice oddly gentle. “I know. Anyone could take one look at your face and see that much. You have an honest face, Rey.”

She stared at her plate because she didn’t want her honest face to give way to the thoughts spinning through her head, the ones that would make her stomach rebel. 

“So,” Ben said and he picks up her empty plate and replaced it with a large empty bowl, “How did my grandfather die?”

And her head snaps up and realizes he’d caught her just as squarely as she’d been afraid of being caught ever since that horrible night.

-

Ben had asked the waitress to bring an extra bowl with their food. Presumably, it was for sharing, but now he slid it out as he watched Rey’s eyes widen in a mixture of shock and fear that quickly turned to anger. He followed up his question with another. “You do know what happened that night, don’t you?”

“What makes you think—?” but she had to cut her own question off as she started to gag. She reached for the bowl, but then composed herself.

“Ah, you do.” He smirked.

He waited patiently while they both sipped their Merenzane Gold, leaning back in the booth to affect a casual nonchalance that he very much did not feel. Rey was the key to everything, somehow, and he needed to get to the bottom of it.

“You left the party early, but as everything was winding down, I took him upstairs to give him his medicine. He never wanted to be around anyone else when I was administering it.” She gave him a sad sort of smile and wiped away a stray tear.

Ben nodded. He remembered his grandfather’s pride well. 

“I had given him that same medicine, same dosage, thousands of times.” She launched into a tear-filled story of how she had somehow mixed up the vials. How Anakin had refused to let her call for help. How she had rushed out of the room before she heard him igniting his saber.

When she was done, he slowly reached across the table for her hand. She let him hold it. It would be like his grandfather to take the fall and kill himself to cover the mistake of someone he loved—but something about it didn’t sit right with Ben. He would dig a little deeper, but right now Rey needed a friend. He stroked his thumb across her knuckles. His voice lowered as he said, “You’re not alone.”

She looked up at him, an earnestness in her eyes. This was the most they’d ever spoken, but he could feel the thrum of the Force around them. Like they were meant to be here, together. “Neither are you,” she replied.

-

The words had just sort of slipped out. 

She knew where they could have come from. Anakin always talked about how lonely Ben was, about how he never had the easy charm that made the friends that Luke and Leia had always had. He didn’t have a brother-in-arms like Obi-Wan Kenobi, or a love of his life like Padmé.

But that wasn’t what had made her say it. 

It was the way he’d reached for her hand as though unsure if he’d be welcome, as though it was unnatural to hold someone’s hands when you were trying to comfort them about the sheer complexity of the difficult situation in which they’d found themselves. It was the way he was looking at her now, as though she’d predicted the expression on his face, the shock, the breaking down of barriers that keep him from thinking about just how much pain he’s in—being alone.

Rey knew that feeling too well.

“What do we do?” she asked him softly. 

He seemed to shake himself. His shoulders seemed to get broader as he sat up straighter, his face was now blazing with determination. “I have some ideas.”

“Oh yeah?” she asked him.

“Well, mostly just the one.”

His hand was still in hers. It squeezed gently as his eyes seemed to blaze at her and she found she never wanted to let his hand go. 

She remembered Anakin talking about Padmé.  _ I never wanted to let her go,  _ he had told her one night after she’d helped him into bed.  _ Never. Even after the heart monitors stopped and she’d died, I couldn’t let go of her hand, let go of my life. That’s love. The deepest, most powerful love. _

Had he ever told Ben that? Did Ben know it? 

Or was Ben still reeling from Rey’s comment? 

Why was he looking at her like he never wanted to let her go too?

“I think we should get married,” he said, his voice low, sincere, almost breathless and Rey—well, Rey found she was breathless too.

-

Hux stood still in the front lawn of Varykino watching as Rey hopped into the speeder with Ben Solo and rode off into the sunset. What did the youngest Skywalker have up his sleeve? For what he had seen thus far, there was no shortage of animosity between the young senator and Anakin’s nurse. Surely he didn’t think he could seduce her for his portion of the inheritance?

He scoffed and turned back to the grieving family who were currently all still yelling at each other. He could hear snippets of “It’s your fault… always pushing him away… well, the money really isn’t the issue, is it?”

He locked eyes momentarily with Ahsoka, the solicitor, who gave him a weary shrug. He replied with a solemn nod and beckoned Mitaka over to wander the grounds with him some more. He needed a bit of time to think—preferably away from the shouting family.

“This certainly is the most entertaining will-reading I’ve been to, lately,” Mitaka said.

“Oh, put a cork in it,” Hux retorted. 

-

“Married?” 

There was something about her voice. He’d never understood it. It was always so firm—even when she was tired, or shocked, or scared. He had always chalked it up to her being a nurse. She probably had to deal with so much shit from patients—especially his grandfather. 

“Listen,” Ben said leaning forward. His hand was still in hers. If she pulled it away, he’d let it go, but he didn’t want to—not yet. And she hadn’t pulled away. “I know my mom and I know my uncle and they’re going to find every lawyer they can to try and take it away from you. That’s their mom’s house, not yours. That’s what they think.”

“And marrying you will protect it, somehow?” she asked.

“A little bit,” he said. “Oh, they’ll think I’m marrying you for the money, but hell—we can find a pre-nup so that I don’t get a penny if you want.” What was he saying? That he didn’t want the inheritance?

Because he did want the inheritance.

But his mouth kept talking and somehow it was the truth coming out of it. “I want to help you, Rey. And look, I was always locking horns with my grandfather, but he wouldn’t want you dragged through the mud, left high and dry because of all this. He wouldn’t want you helpless in the face of my mother’s determined wrath. And I can be a shield of sorts.”

She was staring at him, confused. “You don’t want the money?”

“Do you want the money?” he asked her sharply.

“No, I—” she cut herself off. “I want money, but I don’t—I wanted it to be mine. Not like this.”

“Well, you got it like this,” Ben said. “If you don’t want it, then there was no reason to run from them. I think you want it.”

“I want what Anakin wanted,” she said quietly.

Ben swallowed. He had thought he hadn’t. He had thought that he’d hate her forever—that comment about sabacc had eaten at him for hours. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to her ever. He wanted to help her weather the storm—hold her through it.

_ This is crazy,  _ he thought. But he couldn’t help but feel that this was the right thing, the  _ good feeling _ he never heard anyone say they had. 

He’s got a good feeling about Rey.

Which is probably why his head went straight to marriage and not to  _ let me leverage what resources I have at my disposal to help you with this fraught situation. _

He likes the idea of…

Of things he’s never had.

_ Neither are you. _

He knew as intensely as he knew anything that she’d meant that too. 

“This is crazy,” she muttered. “This is crazy, why am I even thinking about this?”

He didn’t dare let himself breathe, much less answer that question.

Her hand was still in his.

-

Rey let out a shuddering breath as she considered his proposal—his literal proposal. Force, what was she even thinking? She should’ve said no right away and run in the other direction, but—

This was the first time she’d ever had a full length conversation with Ben that didn’t end in one of them saying something curt and storming off. It was the first time they’d touched. She looked down at her hand, so much smaller engulfed in his. Then she looked up to meet his eyes, those dark ochre pools that always seemed to see right to the heart of her.

“I think you know why,” he ventured. “Tell me you don’t feel it, too.” He pushed the empty bowl in front of her, calling her bluff.

“I—” the word ‘don’t’ started to form in her brain and no sooner than it did, she felt queasy. She couldn’t say it. It would be a lie. Whatever this connection that was forming between them might be, she wanted to explore it. “I do.”

He looked relieved, letting out a breath and taking another sip of his drink. He rubbed his thumb over the delicate skin of her hand once more before releasing her. She didn’t want to admit the way the lack of his warmth made her feel bereft. They had more important things to think about.

“Promise me you’ll at least consider—”

She cut him off before she lost her nerve. “Yes.”

Ben’s eyebrows shot up. “Yes, what?”

“Let’s do it. Let’s get married.”

-

Only the guilty ran.

This was something Hux had learned early in his career. People with something to hide—and Rey…

Well, clearly she hadn’t been fully forthright with him. And Senator Solo, well. Maybe the rumors were false. Maybe it wasn’t Anakin Skywalker she’d been fucking, maybe it was the senator. He’d scooped her out of the fight with his family so readily and then he, too, was gone.

And he had fought with his grandfather the night that he’d ended up murdered.

“We’ll need to put a search out for them,” Hux told Mitaka. “At once.”

“Ben’ll come home,” Leia said angrily. “He’ll answer for this. We’ll get this all sorted out.” 

“I’m sure,” Hux replied dryly. “I’m sure he’ll come back now that he has the heiress in his clutches.”

“Don’t call him that. And my son—he does what’s right. Always.”

“He’s a senator. They never do what’s right.”

“Don’t speak like that in my mother’s house,” she snapped at him.

“Forgive me,” he said, not really meaning it.

Why would she run if she weren’t guilty of something? Sure, she would be overwhelmed by the shock of the revelation, but to run outright? As opposed to just going and hiding in Anakin Skywalker’s library?

Curious. Very curious.

Time ticked on. He mulled over the state of affairs while he waited for an update from Mitaka.  _ Had she and Solo even met before today? _

They must have, but enough to have formed some sort of deeper relationship—a conspiracy against the grandfather?

He was jolted out of his reverie by the sound of a speeder pulling up in front of the house and to his surprise, he saw Senator Solo and the nurse getting off it. Solo’s hand drifted to the small of her back and when they were settled, he took her hand and led her towards the house.

_ So maybe they aren’t guilty?  _ Hux wondered as he got to his feet and went to the foyer to greet them. 

“Mom, dad,” Senator Solo was saying as Hux passed like a shadow into the room, “I want you to meet my wife.”

-

_ Well, fuck me, _ Han thought as he stared at his son and his brand new daughter in law. He had a sneaking suspicion for a while now that Ben was sweet on the nurse from Dallenor, but this was a new level of ballsy. He had to respect it.

“I guess, congratulations are in order—” he started, but was pushed aside as Luke rushed over to them.

“You little shit, you did this for the money didn’t you?” Luke shouted. “You know, I’d expect this from my nefarious nephew, but from you?” He turned to Rey. “I expected better from you.”

“This has nothing to do with the money.” Ben stepped in front of her. 

“The hell it doesn’t.” Luke raised his walking stick to strike him and it suddenly stopped in midair.

Han watched the whole scene, relishing the excitement. He smirked when he saw Rey, arm outstretched to stop Luke’s cane. She had a righteous fury on her face he’d never seen before. Ah, so it was mutual then. “Does everyone in this fucking family have the Force but me?” he groused.

Not to be outdone, Leia strode over, her elegant skirt floating just above the fresh mown grass. They still fought like crazy, but he’d love her till his dying day. His gaze drifted over to Ben and realized he’d passed on his relentless devotion to his son. He hoped Rey had thought this through. 

“If you’re all quite done, I think we should take this inside where Ben and Rey can explain everything,” Leia said. She then turned around and walked back inside, not even bothering to check if they were all following. Of course they were.

Han rolled his eyes as Luke grumbled the whole way back into the sitting room. The ginger inspector was being suspiciously quiet as he watched them all. Once everyone was seated, Luke scratched his beard and leveled his stare at Ben again. “Now you want to tell us all why you up and married the nurse from Kamar?”

“Jakku.” Ben’s mouth hardened into a line as he stared at the floor. Beside him on the couch, Rey grabbed his knee.

“What?” Luke replied.

“She’s from  _ fucking _ Jakku! It’s not hard to remember.” The twitch under his left eye was going haywire.

Rey leaned in and whispered, “Ben, it’s okay.”

Han watched as his son visibly calmed. No one else had ever been able to do that for him. He sat back and smiled.  _ This should be good. _

-

“Where are you going?” he heard Rey ask Solo and he paused in the door, pretending to be adjusting his cuff to hear the senator’s response.

“I need to go upstairs,” the senator replied. “I need to check on something.”

“What do you need to check on?” Rey asked.

And Armitage catches a glimpse of Ben Solo leaning forward slightly, as though wanting to kiss her forehead and then thinking better of it because they aren’t alone and rocking back on his heels. “A thing. I’ll be back in a second. I won’t leave you with them for long. I promise.”

“Ben—” she began.

“I’ll come back for you, sweetheart. I promise.” 

And he turns around and passes Armitage, heading into his grandfather’s study. 

Hux followed him.

“And where are you going?”

“Just getting some paper,” Solo says idly. “Wanting to take notes as we consult with Ahsoka.” He shuffles through the papers on top of Anakin’s desk. 

“I somehow doubt that,” Armitage says.

Solo looks up. “Do you now?” he asks. He sounds like he doesn’t care at all what Armitage thinks.

“I think you came in here to get rid of some evidence.”

“Wouldn’t I have done that already?” Solo asks dryly. He waves the paper in Armitage’s face. “Note paper.”

“Then why didn’t you tell your new bride that?”

But Solo has already left the room and is crossing the foyer to the library and acting as though he hadn’t heard Armitage at all.

-

Ben had smelled something fishy from the outset. He was closer to Anakin than anyone else, and he knew his grandfather wouldn’t just have offed himself. But there was something off about Rey’s story, too. He had been watching her for a long time, and she was an exceptional nurse. There was no way she would’ve mixed up his medicine.

Anakin had been off ever since his wife died, and sometimes he liked to shake things up by doing something extreme. His mother was still mad about the time he’d put out a bounty on Han just for kicks. Ben had found that one quite funny. 

It’s true that he couldn’t feel his grandfather in the Force anymore, but he knew that Anakin would appear to him at some point. They had discussed this in private. And since he hadn’t yet, Ben decided to check on something first. The two of them used to pass private notes to each other that could only be revealed through the application of heat.

That irritating inspector Hux had slowed him down a bit, but he managed to grab a scrap of the special paper from Anakin’s desk. He hadn’t seen it before. He just needed to find a spare moment to read what it said.

His thoughts were interrupted, however, by the inspector calling them all back in. “If I could have your attention, please. I believe I have solved the mystery.”

-

Rey’s heart was hammering in her chest as she stared at Hux. He had this confident little smile on his lips, almost a sneer. She felt like she was going to be sick. And she hadn’t even told a lie. She looked around the room.

Ben was standing in the doorway, holding a piece of paper, staring at it as though reading something. He was just flipping it over when Hux continued,

“As I’m sure you’re all aware, this is no ordinary case. This murder is rife with deception,” his eyes land on Rey and no—no she can’t be sick. She can’t. She’d done everything Anakin had suggested, had omitted tactically but she’d never lied.  _ I only told the truth. There was no deception. _

She wanted to look at Ben, but she couldn’t. If she did, she was sure something horrible would happen. Something like Hux saying, “I would like to take this moment to say—it wasn’t until earlier this afternoon that I believed it. It wasn’t until the dramatic return to Varykino, but now, I can say beyond shadow of a doubt that the murderer is Ben Solo.”

He turned to the door and everyone’s eyes followed.

The doorway was empty.

Ben was gone.

-

“Hello, Grandfather.”

Anakin squinted into the beam of light coming through the doorway. So Ben had figured it out—he hadn’t doubted...much. “It’s about damn time,” he groused. “I’ve been in this passageway for nearly a week!”

His grandson looked at the surroundings. Anakin was in a comfy chair with several empty ration packs scattered on the ground. He’d been living quietly in the house ever since his escape from the morgue. And he’d been highly enjoying watching the drama he set in place play out. There were several monitors boosting live feeds to him from around the estate.

“This—this is a new low, even for you.”

“Ah, come on. You’re enjoying yourself.” Then he noticed the ring on Ben’s finger. “I—what’s that?”

Ben startles and looks down at his hand. “Oh. Well, since your little escapade basically made Rey a target for the rest of the family, I figured it would be best if we, if I—”

“You kriffing  _ married  _ her?!” Anakin laughed but then started to think about the way Ben always acted around his nurse. Then he started to think about Padmé. And thinking about Padmé always made him misty. “Okay, I guess I’ve had my fun. Let’s go ruin someone’s day.”

“One question,” Ben started as he helped him up from his chair. “How are you still alive right now?”

“Oh, that. You know how we were using ysalamiri components in my treatments? Turns out cutting myself off from the Force completely slowed everything down.”

Ben grunted.

Anakin smirked. “But I did count on you figuring it out faster—you’re getting rusty, Benny.”

-

To be fair, Ben had contemplated murdering his grandfather several times in his life.

And one of those times was now, watching as Anakin gave him that self-satisfied cocky smile.  _ The one I fell in love with,  _ his grandmother used to say before she died.

He had made Rey think he’d killed himself. She’d been a nervous wreck for days. And while Ben had been surprised that she would have given his grandfather the wrong dosage, she’d been convinced she was a failure, a murderer, a negligent criminal because his grandfather suffered from the Skywalker need to show off. 

“You’re going to apologize to Rey,” he growls at his grandfather as he leads him up the winding stairs from the basement. 

“Not your mother?” Anakin asked dryly.

“You didn’t pretend to cut open your own throat with a lightsaber in front of mom. But you could well have ruined Rey’s life.”

“I’m fine. She wouldn’t have been tried for murder if I was fine. She’s made of sterner stuff than you give her credit for.”

“What would Grandma Padmé say to that?” Ben demanded and his grandfather sighed.

“Point well made.”

“Good.” He paused. He didn’t know if he wanted to know the answer to this next question, but he’d rather be prepared for what was to come. “That will—was it real?”

“Does it matter if I’m alive?” His grandfather gave him a stern look. “Or did you really marry Rey for the money?”

“What? No.” Ben said at once.  _ But what if she doesn’t want to stay married to me now?  _

His grandfather gave him a knowing look. “She’s made of sterner stuff than you think. She’s like Padmé: maybe you’re not the most obvious choice for a husband, but she wouldn’t have said yes if her heart weren’t there. Come on, now. Let’s give them the show they deserve.”

-

This Inspector Hux was unhinged—that much was clear. Leia watched his nostrils flare, his cheeks redden, and decided he could only be grasping at straws. Was her son capable of murder? Certainly, he was a Skywalker after all. But he loved Anakin. He’d never kill his own grandfather.

Her family’s connection to the Force was strong. She knew her father had taught Ben a thing or two in secret, but she had her own secrets as well. She had felt the dark side in him since he was still in her womb, but he had learned to control it over the years. She never feared for his safety anymore the way she had when he was a child. Sure, she had gotten wrapped up in her business and her machinations for corporate domination, but—she still cared about her family.

And now there was another member of it. Had she guessed that there was more between her son and the nurse than sheer antagonism? No, but she should have. They argued the way she and Han had in their youth. Their heated glances were also similar. Kriff, she should’ve seen this coming. 

All she knew was that if she didn’t intervene in this charged moment, it looked like Rey was about to murder the poor investigator. And then they really would all be up the river. Suddenly she sensed not one, but two presences on the other side of the door—both of them familiar. Both of them familial.

So it was with practiced grace and feigned surprise that she gasped when Ben blew back into the room, with Anakin Skywalker in tow, the latter looking pleased as jogan fruit punch. “Surprise!” her father exclaimed as he breezed into the room.

Luke gripped his cane tighter. Rey went white as a sheet. Hux’s face started to match his hair.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” said Ahsoka as she threw down her folder and stormed out of the room.

“Where’re you going, Snips?” Anakin quipped. “Party’s just getting started.”

“Dad,” Leia began. “What the fuck is going on?”

-

Rey stared at Anakin. 

She had to be dreaming.

That was the only explanation for everything—Anakin and the lightsaber, marrying Ben because she didn’t want to let go of his hand, Anakin actually being  _ alive _ .

There was a sting in her eyes and she blinked furiously to try and get it out. It wouldn’t go away.

“How are you not dead?” Hux was asking, sounding positively mulish. “The coroner—”

“Is an old friend,” Anakin said, shrugging. 

“Dad, you can’t be serious,” Luke said, sounding utterly appalled.

“You didn’t just fake your own death for a novel, did you?” Leia snapped.

“He won’t have to fake it much longer,” Ahsoka Tano muttered from the doorway.

“It wasn’t for a novel,” Anakin said. Rey remembered him taking notes after she’d given him the wrong medicine. How was he standing there? She’d given him enough of that component to kill him. How was he still alive?

“It was to see if you could, wasn’t it?” Ben asked dryly. 

Rey looked at him. To her surprise, his eyes weren’t on his grandfather; they were on hers. Big, intense, brown eyes. His face was an open book.  _ Please be ok. I care about you. _

That’s when the tears started flowing. 

“I thought I’d  _ killed _ you,” she sobbed at Anakin Skywalker. “I thought I’d poisoned you and you only had ten minutes left to live.”

“There, there, sweetheart,” Anakin said, clearly caught off guard by her tears. “It was only a little—”

“It wasn't,” Rey said. “You told me how to lie to everyone. And for what—nothing? What, did you switch out the compound for your medicine? Was it all a joke?”

Anakin looked at her, and there was apology bubbling beneath his expression but Rey found she didn’t want to hear it. She’d been anxious, on the verge of vomiting constantly, had married his grandson. And all because he was bored?

“You’re selfish,” she spat at him and no one made to stop her as she threw herself from the room.

-

“That went well.”

Ben looked at his grandfather, his blood already boiling. He could feel the dark side curling around him and had to close his eyes to rein it in. “Okay, here’s what’s gonna happen. You”—he turned to Anakin—“will explain to everyone exactly what you did. And I am going to go make sure my wife is alright.”

He cast one last disparaging glance at his fucked up family and went outside. Rey was unloading the contents of her stomach onto one of the bushes in the front lawn. His chest constricted at the sight. Stars, he really was in love, wasn’t he?

She wiped her mouth off and twirled to face him, a fury in her eyes that stirred him somewhere a little more south. “Did you know?”

“What—this whole time? You think I’d hide something like that?”

She started stomping off across the lawn. “I don’t know, all you Skywalkers are kriffing insane!”

He reached out and grabbed her arm. “Rey, I didn’t know. I only just figured it out. He had left me a note.”

She finally slowed and faced him. He released her arm and noticed she was crying. “Are you sure? Because I thought this”—she gestured between the two of them—“was something special, something real. I thought—”

He couldn’t take it any longer. He pulled her close and kissed her—they hadn’t needed to do it before in order to obtain the marriage license—and he had been dying to touch her ever since. It was less than pleasant, the faint taste of bile still on her lips. But they were soft and pliant and he decided it was worth it.

She sighed and pulled back. “Ben,” she breathed.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. You just—”

Rey huffed a little laugh and pulled some mints from her pocket, quickly popping two into her mouth. “Give me like thirty seconds, and we can try again.”

They were so wrapped up in staring at each other, they didn’t hear the footsteps until someone was right beside them. Ben swiveled his head to see Anakin standing there, his eyes a bit misty. “You two remind me so much of myself and Padmé.”

-

Hux stood there, trembling with rage.

He wouldn’t stand for this. He wouldn’t.

He had been brought in—for what—to be humiliated? Played the fool along with the imbecile Skywalker family? He had been specifically invited to investigate. Did that mean that Anakin Skywalker had heard of his talents and wanted to one up him?

“I think,” Hux said to Mitaka, “That there is some crime in here, wouldn’t you agree? Worthy of arrest?” Mitaka frowned. He wasn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier. Hux was going to have to spell it out for him, wasn’t he? “Misleading police? Abuse of public resources?”

“Oh,” said Mitaka.

“Oh indeed,” Hux said. Then, because he didn’t trust Mitaka to actually do his job—that was why he’d been brought in at all—he grabbed the handcuffs from Mitaka’s belt. “Mr. Skywalker,” he called, and Luke Skywalker turned from the doorway. “Not you,” Hux snapped, ignoring Luke and marching past him to where Anakin was standing in the foyer. “Mr. Skywalker, you are under arrest.”

Anakin Skywalker was very old. There were lines and liver spots on his face, and his eyebrows rose up his forehead only making it more wrinkled.

“Under arrest?”

“Obstruction of justice, conspiracy, you name it.” Hux said. “This was a criminal engagement.”

“Oh please,” Anakin laughed. “It was just a bit of fun.”

“You have misled the servants of justice and will be treated accordingly,” Hux said, extending the handcuffs.

“Serves him right,” he heard Luke mutter behind him.

“Hang on,” Senator Solo said. “You aren’t a cop. You can’t arrest him.”

“I can,” Hux said. “Mitaka’s unwell, he authorized me.”

“I doubt that,” said the little nurse.

“And were I you, I’d keep quiet, or else I’ll arrest you for aiding and abetting,” Hux snapped at her and to his surprise, Rey laughed.

“I’d like to see you try. You’re not a cop. And unless you want us to file charges for your impersonating one, I’d let Anakin go.”

Solo looked down at her and she looked back at him. “Greedo got ten years for that back home.”

Hux gaped at her. Then he looked back at Mitaka.

“Maybe we should just go, Armitage,” Mitaka said quietly. He looked nervous, but then again, he was a coward and was always nervous.

Hux looked at Anakin Skywalker one last time.

“You haven’t heard the last of this,” he snapped and marched towards the door, cold controlled fury in every muscle of his body.

-

As soon as the police and the irksome inspector had vacated the premises, Anakin turned to his grandson and his new bride. He felt a swell of pride in his chest as he watched them, both clearly concerned for the other’s well being. “So, uh—this is real, then?”

Rey smiled. “I can’t speak for Ben, but for me at least, it’s real.”

Ben took her hand and brought it up to his lips, placing a quick kiss to her knuckles. “It’s real.”

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Luke said.

“Oh put a sock in it,” Leia retorted. She walked over and gathered her son and the nurse into a hug. “I’m happy for you both, if this is what you want.”

Ben grimaced. “It’s nice that you finally care about what I want.”

Leia looked shocked, but wisely said nothing. Han was behind them all staring off into the distance uncomfortably.

“Yes, well. Maybe I’ll amend the will to include Rey, Ben, and their future children,” Anakin mused. He then turned to look at the rest of his family—soft Luke, who he’d coddled too much; hardened Leia, who he hadn’t coddled enough; and her idiot husband, Han. “The rest of you sleemos are still written out.”

The outrage and yelling started up afresh and Anakin just smirked. He noticed Rey and Ben slipping off, hand in hand. Maybe he didn’t intend this whole charade as a matchmaking scheme for his grandson, but he was pretty pleased it ended up that way. 

Ahsoka wandered up to him in the midst of all the bickering and offered him a pointed glare. “You happy with yourself, old man?”

“I think I am. Could use a drink though.”

She scoffed. “Fine, but you’re buying.”

-

“What now?” Rey asked the moment they were out on the back patio, looking over the lake. She’s always liked it back here. Anakin had always been particularly fond of it. It was where, years and years and years ago, he and Padmé had eloped. 

Ben looked at her and there was something about the expression on his face that took her breath away. 

“Well,” he said quietly, his voice a low rumble in his chest. “I suppose I should take you out on a date.”

And a laugh slipped out from between her lips. A date? With her husband? Ben was really her husband. Even in light of all this—this was what he’d wanted. And it was still, somehow, what she wanted. 

“That’s nice,” she said. “That sounds nice. But I meant—”

“I know what you meant,” he said and he was standing even closer now, his eyes blazing into her soul. “But let’s put it away for a bit. It’s just us now, let it just be us now.”

And his hands were cupping her face, his breath tickling her face in the sunshine and she knew he was going to kiss her again.

“Wait,” she said and it was as though she had slapped him, as though she was shoving him away, as though she didn’t want him.

She dug in her pockets for her breath mints and shoved three of them into her mouth. Then she lurched towards him throwing her arms awkwardly around his neck and pulling his face down to hers.

He sighed into her mouth, his hands trembling slightly on her hips as he pulled her closer to him. 

Somewhere, in the distance, she thought she heard Anakin say, “Just like me and Padmé,” again.

But she found she couldn’t quite care because Ben’s tongue had slipped between her lips and sent a shiver across her body as she felt herself melt into him even more. 

**Author's Note:**

> You can find Celia [here](http://linktr.ee/crossingwinter) and Alannah [here](https://twitter.com/AlannahWrites)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * A [Restricted Work] by [k_puff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/k_puff/pseuds/k_puff) Log in to view. 




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